The Effectiveness of Direct and Indirect Coded Written Feedback in English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

Despite continuing interest in the relative effectiveness of different types of written corrective feedback in both second language (L2) research and classroom, no one type of written feedback has yet been conclusively shown to be more effective than another. The present study investigated the differential efficacy of two types of focused written corrective feedback, direct error correction and indirect coded feedback, for L2 development. Forty-three Korean English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from three intact classes at a university were assigned to a control group or one of two experimental groups (i.e., direct vs. indirect coded feedback). A pretest-post-test design was employed to assess improvement in learners ability to use the target structure, the past counterfactual conditional. Only the direct written feedback group significantly outperformed the control group on the post-test involving a new piece of writing. Results indicated that direct written feedback was more effective than indirect written feedback provided in the form of coded feedback in improving learners subsequent accuracy in using a complex syntactic structure in a short-term period.